'After section 41 of the 1996 Act there shall be inserted—

''41A Power to give directions to chief officers

(1) This section applies where the Secretary of State (whether in consequence of a report under section 54 or otherwise) is satisfied in relation to any police force maintained for any police area—

(a) that the whole or any part of the force is, whether generally or in particular respects, not efficient or not effective; or

(b) that the whole or a part of the force will cease to be efficient or effective, whether generally or in particular respects, unless remedial measures are taken.

(2) The Secretary of State may direct the chief officer of police of the force to prepare and submit to the Secretary of State a plan ('an action plan') for taking remedial measures in relation to anything that the Secretary of State considers relevant to the matters as to which he is satisfied as mentioned in subsection (1).

(3) An action plan shall not relate to any matters other than those in relation to which functions fall to be discharged by the chief officer of police of the force in question.

(4) On considering an action plan submitted to him in accordance with a direction under this section, the Secretary of State may direct the chief officer of police of the force in question—

(a) to revise that plan in accordance with the directions of the Secretary of State; and

(b) to resubmit the plan to him with the required revisions;

and this subsection applies to a plan resubmitted to the Secretary of State as it applies to the plan initially submitted to him.

(5) On giving a direction under this section to the chief officer of any police force, the Secretary of State shall notify the police authority maintaining that force that he has given that direction.

(6) A direction under this section may impose time limits as to the submission or resubmission of an action plan to the Secretary of State.

(7) The provision that a direction under this section may require to be included in an action plan to be submitted or resubmitted to the Secretary of State includes—

(a) provision for the taking of such steps, and for the imposition of such performance targets, as may be specified for the purposes of the plan by the Secretary of State;

(b) provision for the time limits so specified to be applied to the taking of those steps and to the meeting of those targets;

(c) provision for the making of progress reports about the implementation of the action plan to the Secretary of State and to the police authority maintaining the force in question;

(d) provision as to the times at which, and the manner in which, any progress report is to be made; and

(e) provision for the duration of the plan and for it to cease to apply in the circumstances determined by the Secretary of State.

(8) Nothing in this section shall authorise the Secretary of State to direct the inclusion in an action plan of any requirement to do or not to do anything in a particular case identified for the purposes of the requirement, or in relation to a particular person so identified.

(9) Before submitting or resubmitting an action plan to the Secretary of State in accordance with a direction under this section, the chief officer of police of a police force shall consult the police authority which maintains that force.

(10) In this section references, in relation to a case in which there is already an action plan in force, to the submission or resubmission of a plan to the Secretary of State include references to the submission or resubmission of revisions of the existing plan; and the preceding provisions of this section shall have effect accordingly.

(11) A chief officer of police of any police force shall comply with any direction given to him under this section.

41B Procedure for directions under section 41A

(1) The Secretary of State shall not give a direction under section 41A in relation to any police force unless—

(a) the police authority maintaining that force and the chief officer of that force have each been given such information about the Secretary of State's grounds for proposing to give that direction as he considers appropriate for enabling them to make representations or proposals under the following paragraphs of this subsection;

(b) that police authority and chief officer have each been given an opportunity of making representations about those grounds;

(c) that chief officer has had an opportunity of making proposals for the taking of remedial measures that would make the giving of the direction unnecessary; and

(d) the Secretary of State has considered any such representations and any such proposals.

(2) The Secretary of State may by regulations make further provision as to the procedure to be followed in cases where a proposal is made for the giving of a direction under section 41A.

(3) Before making any regulations under this section, the Secretary of State shall consult with—

(a) persons whom he considers to represent the interests of police authorities;

(b) persons whom he considers to represent the interests of chief officers of police; and

(c) such other persons as he thinks fit.

(4) Regulations under this section may make different provision for different cases and circumstances.

(5) A statutory instrument containing regulations under this section shall not be made unless a draft of the regulations has been laid before Parliament and approved by a resolution of each House

(6) If the Secretary of State exercises his power to give a direction under section 41A in relation to a police force—

(a) he shall prepare a report on his exercise of that power in relation to that force; and

(b) he shall lay that report before Parliament.

(7) A report under subsection (6)—

(a) shall be prepared at such time as the Secretary of State considers appropriate; and

(b) may relate to more than one exercise of the power mentioned in that subsection.'''.—[Mr. Denham.]

Brought up, and read the First time.

Motion made, and Question put, That the clause be read a Second time:—

The Committee divided: Ayes 14, Noes 9.

Division number 5 - 14 yes, 9 no

Voting yes: Bob Ainsworth, Vera Baird, Colin Challen, John Denham, Barbara Follett, John Heppell, Huw Irranca-Davies, Kevan Jones, Ashok Kumar, Ian Lucas, Meg Munn, Bridget Prentice, Paul Stinchcombe, Howard Stoate

Voting no: Norman Baker, Annette Brooke, Cheryl Gillan, Nick Hawkins, Lady Hermon, Boris Johnson, Patrick Mercer, George Osborne, James Paice

Question accordingly agreed to.

Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.